361.1121 Speier, Edward Henry/14
Memorandum by Mr. Bartley P. Gordon of the Division of European Affairs
In the case of Edward Henry Speier, an American citizen, the Soviet authorities in a note dated November 22, 1941, informed the American Embassy at Kuibyshev of Speier’s arrest in Vladivostok for illegal entry into the Soviet Union. (See Embassy’s telegram 1971, November 24, 1941).13 At that time the Soviet authorities indicated they were prepared to hand Speier over to the American authorities should the United States Government so wish.
The Consul General at Vladivostok14 reported (telegram 125 of December 20, 1941) that he had visited Speier and had taken his passport application which Speier declined to execute, however, until oath of allegiance was stricken therefrom. This application shows that Speier was born at Detroit in 1907 and that it was his intention never to return to the United States. He had gone to the Soviet Union without a passport as a stowaway on the Soviet steamer Mayakovsky.
During this interview Speier spoke admiringly of the Soviet Union and in disparaging terms of the United States. He expressed a strong desire to work in or fight for the Soviet Union but was bitter over the treatment he had received in his home country and emphasized his unwillingness to bear arms for the United States. In a subsequent interview, (see despatch 116 of March 26, 1942 from Vladivostok) Speier denied that he really felt these expressed sentiments and explained that his pro-Soviet and anti-American statements were made because of his uncertainty of the true identity of the American representatives and his secret suspicion that they were masquerading agents of the Soviet Secret Police who might do him harm.
The Department’s records indicate that Speier had long been interested in communist ideology and had made several unsuccessful attempts since 1940 to go to the Soviet Union as a stowaway. He also admitted to a police record in Michigan for grand larceny and in California for stowaway attempts.
The Soviet authorities inquired (telegram 2121, December 31, 1941 from Moscow) whether in view of Speier’s refusal to return to the United States, the Embassy were still interested in his case and stated that if the American Government were no longer interested Soviet law would be applied since Speier had illegally crossed the Soviet [Page 769] frontier. The Department indicated that investigations were being continued to verify Speier’s birth in Detroit.
The Consul General at Vladivostok reported (telegram no. 10, January 10, 1942) that he had been informed by the diplomatic agent15 there that Speier would be tried on the charge of having crossed the Soviet frontier illegally and that neither his birth certificate nor photographs for his passport application could be furnished the Consulate General pending the decision of the court. Although the Consul General had as yet received no instructions as to what protection should be accorded to Speier, he requested permission of the diplomatic agent to attend the trial at the suggestion of the Embassy. Meanwhile the Department’s investigations to determine Speier’s origin were continued.
The Consul General at Vladivostok reported (telegram no. 31, February 19, 1942) that he had just been informed orally by the diplomatic agent that Speier had been tried on February 9 and sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment. The Consulate General had not been given an opportunity to have an observer at the trial.
The Consul General was allowed to visit Speier on March 20, 1942 (telegram 46, March 20) to obtain his signature and thumb prints on passport application photographs. At that time Speier stated he desired to return to the United States and to execute a new registration application with oath of allegiance.
The Department’s instruction of August 6, 1942 authorized the Consulate General at Vladivostok to issue a passport to Edward Henry Speier upon his release from prison.16 This instruction was sent by pouch, not by telegram, so it was not received until two months later. The Consulate General requested the diplomatic agent to arrange for an interview between an officer of the Consulate General and Speier and was informed that perhaps Speier was no longer in Vladivostok. The diplomatic agent stated (telegram 109, November 10, 1942 from Vladivostok) that he could not ascertain Speier’s whereabouts for the reason that the appropriate authorities refused to disclose it and therefore he could not arrange an interview but would accept anything for transmission to Speier.
The Department instructed the Embassy at Kuibyshev (telegram 597, November 19, 1942) to make direct inquiry of the Soviet authorities concerning Speier’s present whereabouts and welfare, since his American birth and identity had been established, and to request [Page 770] permission for an American consular representative to visit Speier or for him to appear personally before such representative in order to facilitate the issuance of his American passport.
The Embassy reported (telegram 1132, December 23, 1942) that the Soviet Foreign Office in a note to the Embassy stated that Speier’s new address was “Station Karabazh, Camp of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, Kazakhskaya S. S. R.” The note added that there was no objection to Speier’s being visited by a representative of the Embassy and that the Foreign Office would inform the Embassy later regarding the date and place of such visit.
The latest communication received from the Soviet Union in connection with this case is telegram no. 119 of February 6, 1943 from the Embassy at Kuibyshev stating that on February 6 the Foreign Office had informed the Embassy that Speier had died of pneumonia on January 3, 1943. This information was communicated by the Special Division of the Department in a telegram to Mr. Speier’s mother in the United States.17
- The documents to which reference is made in this summary memorandum are not printed.↩
- Angus Ivan Ward.↩
- Alexander Andreyevich Ankudinov, representative of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in Vladivostok.↩
- This passport was to be valid only for immediate return to the United States.↩
- The Department records do not show whether this telegram was actually delivered, because the addressee had moved.↩